


Legend of the Lions

by freakanature06



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Beast Tamer Hunk, High Fantasy, Mage Pidge, Multi, Multiple Perspectives, Paladin Shiro, Swordsman Keith, Swordsman Lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-08-16 20:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8115766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freakanature06/pseuds/freakanature06
Summary: In a world where goblins, elves, and dragons run amok, one team of five brave heroes can always be counted on to save the day: Team Voltron. 
At least, that's how they try to portray themselves. In reality, Voltron is a team filed with bickering and many inappropriate jokes. But when they stumble upon a bright blue lion cub in danger one day and rush in to save it, their destiny changes forever. 
A high fantasy Voltron AU, following the story of Team Voltron as they try to save their world.





	1. The Blue Lion

**Author's Note:**

> First Voltron fic is a go! 
> 
> Beginning from Lance's perspective because he's my favorite, but expect a lot more of the others in future chapters!

There were some days when Lance wondered why he dealt with some of the shit that his teammates would dish at him. He was the one who had pulled this team together initially. Essentially  _ he _ created Team Voltron from scratch! What right did they have to mercilessly tease him and continually pull him away prematurely from his looting? Ooh no, they'd say, it was definitely Shiro that started the team, not him, but who was the one that really brought them all together?  That's right, it was Lance, no matter what the others said! 

Oddly enough, though, despite all the teasing and lost spoils, Lance enjoyed being a part of Team Voltron most of the time. They were a fun bunch and put up with a lot more of his shenanigans than most people. But no matter how much he loved his team, there were still days like today. Days when everyone and everything was against him, and dammit it was so irritating.

"I keep telling you!" Lance's tone was heated, his voice loud. "Just because they're dead doesn't mean we can't earn something off of them!" He was gesticulating widely to a couple of goblins on the side of the road. 

The object of his disdain was standing only a few feet away, actively clenching his fists and looking like he was about ready to start a brawl any moment. His name was Keith, and he was the second best swordsman on their team, after Lance himself. Honestly, Lance had never approved of Keith joining them, partly because he had a long standing rivalry with the boy, but Shiro - their paladin - had made it clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to Keith. 

"I fail to see how _ defiling the dead _ can possibly ever be a good thing!" Lance could always tell when Keith was livid because the air around him would start to heat up and distort and it always made Keith look so funny. 

In fact, it wasn't long before Lance burst out laughing, clutching his sides and unable to see the pure fury building up in front of him. Thankfully, Shiro had a tendency to step in on occasions like this. 

"Both of you need to calm down right now." There was always a timbre to Shiro's voice that made him almost impossible to disobey - he was a natural-born leader. "Lance, you can't just laugh at Keith every time you two start arguing."

"It's not my fault! He looks so funny like that!" Keith started to step forward at that response, but Shiro blocked his way with one arm, frowning intensely at Lance. 

Honestly, Shiro's propensity for acting like an overprotective dad could get annoying sometimes. Lance let out a sigh and waved a hand, looking away from them. "Fine, whatever, I'm sorry. Can we get going now? It'll be dark soon."

He didn't wait to hear a response and instead wandered towards the other two members of their team, nonchalant as always. It was easy to tell that Shiro was comforting Keith behind him, but Lance made an effort to pretend like he didn't care. 

Shiro and Keith knew each other from before Voltron was formed, but Lance had that same connection with the other two members of the team. Hunk was a beast tamer as well as their groups cook. He and Lance had been best friends since before they could even remember. Pidge hadn't been with them as long, but had been a part of their original Voltron team. As a druid, a master of natural magic, Pidge was also their smartest person on their team. And often sided with Shiro and Keith. Much to Lance's disappointment. 

"You really shouldn't rile him up like that, you know." Absorbed in a book, Pidge didn't even look at Lance while speaking to him. Lance responded with a couple of derogatory gestures that the druid didn't even see. "You know how he gets about their sanctity of life and death. Just agree to disagree already and stop picking fights."

Lance opened his mouth to retort, but Hunk spoke up before him. "Pidge is right, Lance. You've gotta learn to pick your battles man."

With a heavy sigh, Lance put his hands up in the air. "Fine, I'll drop it. Is everyone happy now?" He spoke loud enough that he was sure that Keith had heard him and a glance towards the other swordsman confirmed his thoughts. And Keith didn't look any happier at all. 

This was a totally normal sort of conversation for Team Voltron. Nearly every day, Keith and Lance would get into an argument that Shiro would have to break up. It would have seemed tedious to most, but Lance actually found a sort of strange comfort in the routine, no matter how much he always protested to Keith being with them. 

"Lance, are you listening to me?" The swordsman was pulled from his thoughts by the low, irritated voice. Keith had approached him, probably to apologize. Pulling himself up to his full height, Lance shrieked at the other boy, which seemed to only sour Keith's expression further. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. But the li--"

"Oh don't worry about it, Keith!" Lance purposely interrupted him, waving a hand. "We all make mistakes and say things we don't mean, after all."

There was an awkward moment of silence between them, and Lance was sure he saw the beginnings of smoke rising from Keith's ears, before Hunk stepped in, wrapping an arm around Lance's shoulders and grinning at the fiery swordsman. 

"What my buddy Lance is trying to say outs that he's sorry too. You gotta learn to speak Lance-ese a little better, Keith!" 

As Lance tried to protest this statement, Hunk slapped a hands casually over his mouth, muffling the sound and causing Keith to raise an eyebrow curiously. However, it seemed like Hunk's ruse had worked, as Keith finally nodded and walked away, still looking a little confused. 

This became Lance's cue to start licking Hunk's hand to get it off of him. With a noise of disgust, Hunk pulled his hand away and wiped it on his pants. "Gross man! Is that what I get for covering your butt?!"

With a smirk, Lance wiped his mouth - as if that weren't his own spit all over the place - and winked at his best friend. "If you'd been covering my butt, it wouldn't have been my tongue. I would've just sh--"

He was interrupted by a loud screech that cut through the air like an arrow. Noises were a normal occurrence on the road, but sounds like this were the ones that sent chills down Lance's spine. It wasn't just the sound of a bird or a far-off goblin laughing, it was the scream of someone or something about to lose their life. As much as Lance protested to not looting the dead bodies of their enemies, he had a pretty solid respect for life and a pretty hardcore fear of death - not necessarily of dying himself, but of losing anyone he even remotely cared about to death. The thought of not being able to save an innocent life caused him no end of torment, and so he had trained himself to respond to sounds like this without a second thought. 

Before anyone else could react, even before the screech had finally died out, Lance was on the move, his sword ringing as he pulled it from its scabbard. There were yells behind him, but he paid no attention to them, instead forging ahead towards the source of the startling sound. It didn't matter that his backup was too far behind him to help. He had to save whoever it was in trouble, no matter what. Even if it meant putting himself in danger.

He silently thanked every god he could think of when he rounded a corner and find the source of the noise. There, surrounded by some of the largest wargs Lance had ever seen, was a royal blue lion cub fighting for its life. In that moment, Lance ignored the surprise of seeing such an unnatural animal and fought back the fear of facing these ferocious beasts single-handedly and instead charged into the pack, swinging his sword viciously at the first warg he came to.

Wargs were a hideous kind of creature, the kind that no self-respecting human had any trouble slaying in an attempt to rid the world of them. They were like huge wolves, but their bodies were so deformed from the centuries of inbreeding and magical manipulation that they barely like wolves anymore. Slobber consistently dripped from their oversized fangs and their shaggy grey coats were always a mess with dried pus and blood, a decidedly disgusting smelling oil adding the finishing touches to make them look and smell hideous beyond reason. 

These were just like any other wargs, Lance reasoned to himself, hacking deliberately at the neck of the one currently approaching him. But for some reason, they seemed tougher than he was used to, not to mention larger. His sword buried itself about three inches into the neck of the beast, but it would go no further than that, despite not having even hit bone yet. With a frustrated growl, Lance yanked the sword out and swung down a second time, somehow managing to hit nearly the same spot. There was an extra two inches of give, but still he could not snaps the warg's spine or even knock it down.

"Damn it!" Planting a foot in the creature's side, Lance forcefully pulled his sword out again. He didn't get a chance to take another swing at the gash in its neck, though, as it turned around suddenly, biting at him with huge chunks of drool dribbling onto the ground.

Lance likely would have been done for if not for the vines that suddenly shot up out of the ground and wrapped around the warg, pinning it down to the ground as it snarled and gnashed its teeth together. A wave of relief flooded over Lance in that moment, but he didn't waste more than a moment on it, instead leaping to his feet and running towards the warg closest to the small blue lion.

"Thanks Pidge!" he yelled over his shoulder as he moved, knowing that the small mage was the reason for his safety. He didn't hear a response, but he knew his gratitude got across all the same. That was what came with being part of a team like Voltron, after all.

The lion cub was cowering, but all the while it continued to keep up a fierce defense, growling, hissing, and batting at the warg that was trying to get a bite in. The dumb brute was so intent on its prey that it didn't notice Lance appearing behind it until it was too late. Sliding out to the side of the creature, Lance readied his blade and then thrust it into the warg's side with all of his strength. If he couldn't get through with the edges of his sword, maybe he could just pierce through to the thing's heart instead.

For a few long moments, the blade was stopped only a few inches into the flesh, just like it had been on the other warg, but the moments passed suddenly and the culmination of Lance's strength sent his sword deep into the monster, straight into its heart.

With a loud cry, the warg flailed away from the pain, but it was too late. It took a lot of strength for Lance to keep a hold of his sword as the beast pulled away - and, in fact, he could feel his shoulder dislocate with the force of it - but there was a loud squelch, the sound of metal parting with flesh, and then the warg was on its side, squirming in agony as its heart pumped all of its lifeblood onto the dirt.

Lance took some time to breathe heavily, catching his breath as quickly as he could before he turned to face down whatever wargs were left. 

Except there weren't any wargs left. The rest of Voltron had showed up along with Pidge and taken down the other three while Lance was engaged with saving the blue lion cub. Even now, Keith was already cleaning his sword of the warg blood and Lance could see that the other swordsman had actually managed to decapitate his target.

"Son of a…" Lance started to curse out the red-clad figure under his breath, but a small noise followed by a soft, nuzzling feeling at his leg distracted him and caused him to jump away from the pressure immediately and with a loud yelp.

A quick look down showed him that he had nothing to be afraid of. The yelp had startled the poor thing, but the blue lion did not waste much time before moving to rub up against Lance's leg again. Despite the fact that this creature would normally be considered a predator - and a fearsome one at that - Lance couldn't help but think that the desperate way that it sought his attention was adorable.

No longer hesitant or afraid, Lance squatted down to reach out towards the lion. The action made his deep blue armor clink loudly - he was very proud of his armor, he'd won it in a tournament and it was his favorite color! - which startled the cub. It let out a low growl and raised its hackles for a moment before creeping slowly towards Lance's outstretched hand. 

"That's a good kitty. C'mere! I know you want a good scritching." In the back of his mind, Lance registered Hunk's voice warning him not to touch wild animals, but he didn't have more than a moment to acknowledge it before the blue lion's eyes met his directly, and then her forehead was shoved directly into his palm with an affectionate force. 

In an instant, Lance felt his mind being invaded. He fought to put up a mental barrier like he had always been taught to, but his struggle was futile. A wave of images assailed him: a city he had never seen; a flying castle; five large, vibrantly colored lions; the stars in the night sky; team Voltron standing together, older and obviously scarred; and an ethereal beauty of a woman whose eyes begged for assistance while they yet burned with a fervent determination. 

All of this flashed through his mind so quickly that he barely had a chance to take it all in. And then, the world went dark and silent - the only sound was the low purring of a satisfied cat.


	2. Hunk & Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk springs into action to help his best friend and recalls the time that they met. 
> 
> Also, Team Voltron gets a new mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to push out and is shorter than the first chapter! It was my birthday this past Sunday, so I was gearing up for and then celebrating it~ 
> 
> This is my first time even trying to write from Hunk's perspective. I'm not sure how well I did, but I rather enjoyed it. Also, this turned out a lot Gayer than I was intending, oops!

Seeing his best friend pass out from touching a cat was probably one of the most bizarre things Hunk had ever witnessed. One second, Lance was reaching out towards a wild animal and Hunk was telling him to wait, and the next he was lying on the ground, staring at the sky blankly with his eyes twitching erratically. It had taken Hunk all of ten seconds to leap over the (huge, terrifying) carcasses of the wargs they had just fought to get to Lance, but in that time the swordsman's eyes had closed and he had started snoring peacefully, the blue lion cub purring happily on his chest.

Hunk wasted no time in pulling in his dragon hide gloves as reaching out to gently tug the lion off of his buddy.  _ 'C'mon, just get off…'  _ The little lion protested loudly, but let itself - herself, Hunk noted idly - be moved away without any more fuss. Hunk thanked his lucky stars that he had a way with animals.

The moment Lance's chest was cleared, Hunk pressed his ear down to it. At the sound of a steady, thumping heart, a sigh of relief escaped the large Beast Tamer's mouth. He sat back on his heels, wiping sweat from his forehead. 

"Lance buddy, you can't scare me like that." The words were barely audible, mumbled under his breath. Talking out loud to himself was a bad habit of Hunk's whenever he was feeling uncomfortable or scared. Which was, admittedly, a lot of the time. 

He continued his low, one person conversation as he started emptying out one of the many pouches lining his belt, looking for something specific therein. The lion cub started to sniff curiously at a few of the things that came out of Hunk's pouch, but mostly seemed interested in continually trying to get back onto Lance's chest. Hunk put forth a solid effort to keep the feline at bay, no matter how grumpily it protested. 

"Aha!" Finally, Hunk pulled out what he was looking for. It was a small vial filled with his own special blend of smelling salts. It was obvious to anyone who knew anything about physiology or medicine - which Hunk did - that Lance wasn't harmed, just passed out. That meant it was time to give his old friend a pleasant wake-up call.

Gently, Hunk waved the vial underneath Lance's nose. Even from an arms length away, the faint scent of citrus and pine with just a _ hint _ of peppermint reached Hunk and he had to smile. He knew firsthand just how potent that smell was up close, and he honestly didn't envy Lance right now. 

It only took a few seconds for the smelling salts to do their job. Within moments, Lance was sitting bolt upright with a gasp, effectively throwing the poor lion that had been trying to sniff at the salts backwards. Hunk quick capped his concoction and stored it away again, reaching out to tug his friend into a tight hug. 

"Hunk what the hell!" Lance's response was to yell, but Hunk just squeezed him tighter despite the ringing in his ears from the proximity of the volume. 

~~~

Hunk had been an only child to a poor family in a poor neighborhood. He was always happy to help anyone he could out, but it often led to a lot of unpaid jobs and occasionally to some unprompted beatings. It was strange how people thought they could get away with hurting the poor. Honestly, though, it was all the same to Hunk. As long as he could somehow help to provide for his family and help out others along the way, he was happy. 

In the summer of his eighth year, things changed. A large family had somehow wound up in the house across the way - ten people living in a space barely large enough for three - and with them came the boy that would change Hunk's life forever. 

Lance. 

It had been a normal day, just like any other. Hunk had run some errands for pay, dropping off packages and picking up payments. It was a larger payoff than he usually for and he was excited to bring it home to his parents. He was just imagining how nice their dinner would be when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and a loud voice rang out from right above him. 

"Well, well. What d'we have here?" Before he even raised his head, Hunk knew that he was in a bad situation. Armored gloves like the heavy one on his shoulder were only ever worn by the guard. And the guard only ever spelled trouble for people in this area. "Looks like I caught ya red- handed, y'little thief," the guard continued, not seeming to even care that he was looming over a literal child. 

Hunk, of course, did the first thing he always did when he was scared. He started babbling. "I'm not a thief, mister, I promise! I was paid this, it wasn't stolen, I can't even steal if I try to! It's too scary and I peed my pants the one time I thought about doing it and that's no good when you're trying to be sneaky you know!"

To his credit, the sudden word vomit seemed to startle the guard, but Hunk was in no mental place to take advantage of the loosened grip on his shoulder or the slackening of the man's posture. It would only be moments before the guard recovered, and by then it would be too late to run away. He would be beaten, arrested, probably spend the rest of his life in a prison cell…

It was at that precise moment that a loud voice started yelling from across the roadway. Hunk couldn't tell what the boy was saying, but he sounded mad and he was throwing rocks at the guard's head too. 

In an instant, the guard lifted his arms to defend himself, effectively freeing Hunk. And then a voice rang in Hunk's ears, louder than it had been, desperate and yet somehow filled with laughter in this strange situation. Hunk would never forget the first word his best friend for life ever said to him. 

"RUN!!!"

The ensuing chase was something that went by in a blur, and even after years of looking back on it, Hunk still couldn't quite recollect how everything went down. Suffice it to say, somehow he and Lance wound up back at Hunk's house, doubled over and clutching their sides as they both laughed until they collapsed, a perfect beginning to a perfect friendship.

~~~

There had been a lot of situations where Hunk was afraid for his best friend's life. They were adventurers after all. Things were bound to happen that were outside of their control. But through the years that they'd been together, he would always react the same way to those situations - as soon as he knew that Lance was alright, he would scoop the smaller man up into a tight hug and sniffle quietly into his shoulder until he was positive that everything was fine.

Lance, bless him, knew how Hunk coped with their lifestyle - a lifestyle he had been adamantly against for a long time - and he knew the signs of his friend's little meltdowns. Hunk felt Lance's hand on his back after a few startled, loud moments, a soothing gesture accompanied by a soft voice assuring him that everything was fine. Closing his eyes, Hunk breathed in deeply a few times, smelling the overwhelming scent of Lance - a lot of sweat, a decent amount of blood, and a whole lot of some nasty cologne that Lance insisted was sensual. Sometimes he wished he could just stay like this forever, holding the other man tightly and never letting go…

Of course, something always happened to pull him away. This time, it was the arrival of a certain mage, who squatted down next to them and promptly patted them both resoundingly on the backs. "Hey guys, hate to cut your cuddlefest short, but Shiro says there's likely to be more wargs around. We should probably beat it."

As Hunk came back to his senses, he saw that Shiro and Keith were watching them and the little blue lion was insistently tugging on Lance's sword, dragging it centimeter by centimeter slowly back towards Lance from where he had dropped it what seemed like an eternity ago. He loosened his hold on his friend and pulled away, not missing the flash of a grin that Lance shot his way as he turned to get up, eyes landing on the lion as he did so.

"Whoa, little buddy, that's sharp y'know!" He plucked the sword from the lion's mouth, earning himself an indignant yowl, and slid it back into its sheath. 

A few feet away, Keith let out a disgusted noise and Hunk swore he heard him mumble, "Gross, he didn't even clean it," followed by Shiro's calming voice, "Now, now, Keith, we all have our own ways…" Hunk swiped at his still-bleary eyes, wiping away the last dredges of tears before gathering up the contents of his pouches and pushing to his feet. The hand on the small of his back was Pidge's, and it was a comforting presence. Pidge always helped to calm him down, always knew the right things to do and say. 

"I didn't really take you for one to pass out because of some blood, though," Keith's voice broke through Hunk's thoughts and he realized that he was curious about the same thing.

He spoke up without hesitation, sounding and feeling totally fine all of a sudden. "Hey, yeah! The only time you ever passed out because of blood was when you lost too much of it. What gives?"

It was always an odd thing to see Lance silent, but that was certainly what he was now. He frowned down at the lion winding between his legs for a few long moments before he looked up. But he didn't look at them. He looked towards the sky. Curiously, Hunk glanced up too. There was nothing there. What exactly was Lance looking at?

Finally, the blue-clad swordsman spoke, his voice cracking a little with what Hunk could only pin as some very intense emotions. The little blue lion looked up at him at the same moment that he started speaking, and somehow Hunk thought that the image of the two of them together like that, both looking up as Lance somberly spoke, was something that you would only see in legends of long-lost times.

"I think we've got a mission, guys. We have to find the other lions."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always happy to hear what people think! Either leave a comment or hit me up on Tumblr @ [freakanature06](http://freakanature06.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> And thanks for reading~~


	3. The Green Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge is an odd member of Team Voltron, preferring solitude whenever possible. But things are about to get thrown out of whack for the young mage, as two new members join Team Voltron suddenly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see! Sorry this took so long? The holidays and then moving and all sorts of things have just completely ruined my ability to do things for a while.
> 
> But it's finally here! Chapter 3! Woo!

Pidge could literally hear her own heartbeat pumping through her eyes as her fists clenched at her sides and her face screwed up in irritation. It had been a long time since life in Team Voltron had been so volatile, but somehow over the last week things had gotten worse than they had ever been. Not only were Keith and Lance constantly at odds, but now Pidge was always finding reasons to yell at the swordsman and consequently snapping at everyone else occasionally as a result.  
  
And it was all that stupid blue lion's fault.  
  
"Dammit, Lance! My magical artifacts are not _toys_ for your new pet!!" Pidge was holding up a book that had been clawed to shreds in the few moments that it had been left alone. Thankfully, it wasn't one of the more rare books that Pidge owned, but that was beside the point. If Lance couldn't start controlling his cat, then the priceless tomes and artifacts would be the next to go, and Pidge wanted none of that.  
  
Lance, for his part, didn't seem to care just how many things that monster had destroyed already, and simply held the little lion cub close, pouting and displaying his best 'kicked dog' eyes, as he liked to call them. "Blue isn't a pet, Pidge! She's part of the family." He gently scritched the cub behind her ear, earning him a pleased little sound. "You can't treat family like that!"  
  
Pinching the bridge of her nose required Pidge to shove her glasses up and into her forehead, but it was a pretty signature Pidge move, so she was used to the biting pain that came along with it. Honestly, Team Voltron was full of so many doofuses that she sometimes wondered how she had even come to be a part of it.  
  
Of course, she knew how. And she knew why. Team Voltron really was like a family to her, though she would never admit it to them, and they were the only way she was ever going to find her _actual_ family again. But that thought was pushed far to the back of her mind as she continued to ream out the swordsman before her.  
  
"First of all, I never agreed to let a wild animal be a part of the group. Second of all, what kind of horrible name is 'Blue' for a cat?!" Lance looked like he was about to respond heatedly, but Pidge kept talking over him. "And third of all, that doesn't change the fact that she's destroying my things! Don't you care even a _little_ bit about how hard I worked to get all these things?!" Her voice was pitched loud and high by the time she finished, huffing loudly with a fist clenched tightly by her side. Seriously, no one could get under her skin the way that Lance could.  
  
The tears in Lance's eyes did nothing to help his case. Pidge knew crocodile tears when she saw them, and Lance was one hell of a little actor. Really, he should have been a bard instead of a swordsman.  
  
"You just don't understand, Pidge! Blue is a special part of me now. I can hear her thoughts and feel her dreams!" There was a note of truth in Lance's tone, like he wasn't just playing it up for sympathy, but Pidge rolled her eyes anyway.  
  
"Are her dreams solely about destroy my stuff? Because that's what it seems like!" She was small, sure, but when she got mad even the tall jerks like Lance started to back off like she was towering over them.  
  
Lance opened his mouth like he was going to retort again, but it was at that point that Shiro stepped in. He was actually really good about being a mediator. "Okay, you two, that's enough." His tone was calm, but it held an authority that no one in Team Voltron could ever bring themselves to argue with. Pidge didn't like having to be told to stop, so she huffed, crossed her arms, and spun on the spot to stalk away from the rest of the group. A classic Pidge move, if she did say so herself.  
  
Alone time was something that Pidge valued greatly, especially since joining up on this wandering adventure that was being part of Team Voltron. She liked to have her own little space whenever they set up camp, and she would spend at least thirty percent of her day holed up alone. And that was exactly how she liked it and was part of the reason that little Blue (still a stupid name for a lion) traipsing into her private area had her so miffed. All the same, having a little area just for her made it easy to storm off and hide from the others for a short while, even if both Shiro and Keith had problems with maintaining their distance for long.  
  
Of course, they both had that problem for completely different reasons. Shiro was adamant about maintaining order and understanding in the team, something that Pidge understood even if she hated his invasion of her privacy. Keith, on the other hand, just had no idea how personal boundaries worked. He would amble into any situation at any time and act surprised and confused when people got irritated with his appearance. Both of them were pretty annoying in their different types of prying, though Pidge supposed that she appreciated how much they cared.  
  
Thankfully, neither of them seemed intent on following her to her tent this time, so she figured she was finally due for a little peace and quiet. As she pulled back the flap, Pidge let out a heavy sigh of relief. It was good to be away from the others, and especially to be away from the little terror that was Blue. Alone with her things, she'd finally be able to get some work done.  
  
Her hopes were dashed immediately when she stepped inside her tent, though. There, sitting primly on her favorite cushion as if it totally belonged there, was a lion cub.  
  
At first, Pidge was certain that Blue had somehow snuck past her, but she quickly realized that this cub was garishly green in color. Not only that, but it didn't have the same sort of rambunctious energy that Blue did. Instead, it seemed fairly content to just stare at Pidge from across the tent, eyes blinking slowly and nose twitching as the young lion sniffed towards the mage curiously. There was a glint in the creature's eyes that spoke to Pidge on a primal level - a sort of unquenchable thirst for knowledge which seemed strange and offputting coming from a lion. Either way, Pidge knew that look all too well, as she had seen it in her own reflection countless times.  
  
Even though her brain told her she should leave the tent, Pidge couldn't help but step towards the lion. There was no sense of danger in either of them, that much was certain, and somehow Pidge knew that she would not be hurt by the lion. The feet between them shrunk to inches and very soon, pale, nimble fingers found their way to green fur.  
  
In an instant, the world exploded in her mind. One moment, Pidge was marvelling at how soft the green lion felt, and then next she was transported to a castle, in front of which stood five lions - blue, green, yellow, red, and black in color. She recognized this from some of the rambling Lance had done after meeting Blue, but it seemed clearer to her than Lance had described his visions. The green lion was looking back at her with knowing eyes, like somehow she and the cub were sharing this vision. Compulsively, she looked down at herself and found that she wore a strange, outlandish armor. Before she could take the chance to actually study it, she was compelled to look around her.  
  
Team Voltron was there with her. They were all dressed similarly to her, each in a different color - colors that matched the lions themselves. Pieces were slowly starting to fall into place in her head. They really were meant to find these lions, it wasn't just Lance's inane babble - as she came to that conclusion, she could have sworn she saw the green lion smile at her - and they had better do it quick. Because behind the castle loomed an imposing darkness, a darkness so impenetrable and swift that Pidge was certain there was nothing in this world that could cause it...

 

***

 

A rough tremor ran through Pidge's whole world and she let out a soft noise of complaint. The noise seemed to make the shaking stop, at least for a moment, and Pidge was glad for the stillness. But it soon returned, dragging her fully into a very bitter and grumpy consciousness.  
  
"Geez, whaddyou want..." She grumbled the words groggily, bringing a hand up to rub her face - only to find that the spectacles she normally wore around were still firmly in place. Strange, she rarely fell asleep with them on just because it was so uncomfortable.  
  
She was so distracted by the oddness and her own thoughts that she somehow missed what was actually being said around her for a few moments and tuned back in somewhere in the middle of everything.  
  
"-n't believe he has one too!! It's MY thing!" That was Lance, sounded put-out and pouty. Typical Lance.  
  
"Calm down, we won't know what's going on until Pidge comes to." Shiro, ever the voice of reason, sounding soothing even though Pidge could hear concern in his tone. How sweet.  
  
"What if he doesn't come to? What if he's stuck like this forever?!" The panic in Hunk's voice was amusing, and Pidge found herself smirking softly in response.  
  
"Guys, calm down. He's waking up." Another gentle shake followed Keith's words and Pidge realized he'd been the one shaking her all along.  
  
She blinked her eyes open, looking blearily up at the face above her. "Oh hey, Keith," she spoke, following her words with a yawn as she pushed the swordsman away from herself. "...guys," she added after glancing around the room. "What're you all doing in here?"  
  
Normally, Pidge would be enraged at the breach of her privacy, but seeing the relief on the rest of the team's faces subdued her anger into simple curiosity. The next moment, they were all talking at once before Shiro held up his hand to silence everyone and smile softly at Pidge.  
  
"You didn't come out for dinner and weren't responding to anyone yelling for you. We got worried and when I came in here to check on you, we found you passed out. Ah, with your little friend batting at your glasses." He gestured behind her and Pidge found herself turning around even as the memories of the green lion cub came flooding back to her mind.  
  
When her eyes landed on the cat, it stood up from where it had been curled up - far away from everyone else in the tent - and trotted over to plop itself into Pidge's lap, letting out a low, contented sound. She stared at the green ball of fur in her lap and felt a slow grin creeping over her face. Raising her eyes, she looked at her teammates.  
  
"Guess we've got another new pet!"  
  
Instantly, Lance groaned and gestured dramatically out of the tent. "C'mon, you complain about Blue all the time, but now that YOU'VE got a lion you think it's cool?! That's so unfair, Pidge!"  
  
"To be fair, Lance, Pidge's lion isn't trying to maul things for fun."  
  
"Not the point, Hunk! It's still the same thing, and super hypocritical!"  
  
"How's that the same? Your dumb cat loves eating shoes and books and--"  
  
"FIRST OF ALL, Keith, Blue's not a cat. She's a beautiful, fierce lion!"  
  
"Which is literally just a big cat, go on."  
  
"Second! She wouldn't eat your shoes if they didn't smell like dead things, what do you even step in anyw--"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Hey, I'm out there getting food for us, so don't get all mad because my shoes smell bad!"  
  
"Oh, they smell WAY worse than bad, you gross, unbathing, long-haired dumbas--"  
  
"...excuse me!"  
  
"Why are you ALWAYS bringing my hair into this?! Do you seriously have that big of a problem with it?"  
  
"Guys, guys, we don't need to fight, let's just talk it out..."  
  
"No way, Hunk! This jerk started it and I'm gonna--"  
  
"EXCUSE ME!!"  
  
A voice that had started out soft and polite now broke through the typical arguments of Team Voltron, drawing everyone's attention to the entrance to Pidge's tents. There, Pidge was shocked to see the most gorgeous women she'd ever laid eyes on. The woman was tall and elegant, with high cheekbones and piercing eyes. Her skin was dark - darker than Pidge was used to seeing - and stood out beautifully against her pure white hair. It was strange to see such an ephemeral beauty with mud smeared on her face and in clothes that were obviously once pristine and were now tattered and disgusting. Her tone had taken on such a commanding edge that now all of the team were staring at her expectantly, whether enraptured by her looks or her commanding presence, Pidge wasn't sure.  
  
The lion in her lap stood and walked over to the young woman, lying down before her and lowering its head. Outside, Pidge could see that Blue was doing the same thing behind the woman. So not only did she command respect from her team, but also from the lions.  
  
Now that she had their attention, the woman smiled. It was filled with relief and hope and desperation, and Pidge felt her heart swelling at the sight of it.  
  
"Greetings, travellers. I am Princess Allura of the Kingdom of Altea. I am seeking the Paladins of Voltron."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, you can find me on Tumblr at [freakanature06](http://freakanature06.tumblr.com/) or on Plurk at [freakanature06](http://www.plurk.com/freakanature06). I'm happy to hear feedback, thoughts, or even just senseless yelling. c:


End file.
